


Moving Forward

by Nhitori



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-03-21 17:38:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3701043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fukawa is engaged to Togami, the love of her life.  But is he really?  An encounter with a mechanic who knows how it feels to love someone who'll never care leaves her wondering if the loveless marriage she's moving towards with the sexiest man alive will really satisfy her, or if she needs to start looking instead to the man who helped her when nobody else would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was no way she could have predicted, at all, just how badly this day would turn out being. That’s not to say that this was the worst day ever, of course, but it was certainly nowhere near as wonderful as she had hoped and expected when she woke up that morning. She’d gotten out of bed, showered, rebraided her hair. She ate cornflakes with blueberries for breakfast, then attempted to do her makeup. She failed at doing her makeup, so she just wiped it off. He’d appreciate her normal ugly face better than a face with fucked up makeup, right? Of course he would. He was Byakuya Togami.

She wasn’t even the slightest bit nervous about going over to his house today. Despite the fact that he was rich and would live in a really fancy house, despite how far away it was, and especially despite the fact that he only wanted her to come over a little bit. His response to her text asking if she could visit was “yeah sure” plus the address, but she was sure that was just his way of showing his love. He was too cool to go swooning all over the place like she did, after all! Way too cool.

She was awake a bit too early, however. She had told him that she’d be there around two that afternoon, so she couldn’t text him that she was on her way till ten o clock. Therefore, she couldn’t leave the house until that time. It was a pain, but she could wait if it was for her darling. As the three hours drew on, she began to wish that she had left earlier after all. It had begun to rain in a way that could really only be described as torrential, and the roads were already getting into what she could only describe as terrible shape. When the time finally came that she could leave, the path from her door to her driveway was entirely made of mud and she very nearly lost a shoe to the suction of the soaked dirt.

She really hated driving in the rain, but she wasn’t about to cancel plans with the love of her life just because of a hefty sprinkle. Once in the car she wiped the water drops off her phone before texting him, knowing that liquid was in fact capable of triggering the touchscreen. She let him know that she was on her way, then dropped her phone into the passenger seat next to her. She turned up the radio station (obnoxious pop music, her guilty pleasure. As much as she would berate ‘popular girls’ for listening to ‘tasteless drivel’, she liked it anyway.) and entered his address into the GPS. Then, off she went.

She couldn’t have possibly predicted just how badly that day would turn out. It simply wasn’t possible, there was no way for her to know that anything would go less than perfectly. Yet, here she was. Car stuck in a ditch off the side of the road, hood smoking against a slightly knocked over tree, a bad case of whiplash working its way through her neck as she struggled to push the airbag back into its compartment.

“Fucking wonderful…” She muttered, scowling, “Thanks for that, weather. Just what I needed today. A car accident. Good job, rain. You very nearly killed me. Is that what you wanted to do? Well in that case you failed. Sorry, but this trash is gonna live another day…” Why was she speaking to nature as if it could understand her? Well, people usually did weird things when shit happened, and she always was the sort to get irrationally angry when inanimate objects caused her harm. This was no different. When she finally manage to get free of the airbag, she winced and started looking around the car for her phone. She found it on the ground in front of the passenger seat, but the battery was missing. Well, no. The battery just wasn’t in the phone. She knew exactly where it was, and that location just so happened to be ‘in a bunch of little pieces on the floor of the car’.

“Shit…” She hissed to herself as she sat back up, then yelped as the movement hurt her neck some more. Angrily glaring at everything around her, she tried to start the car again. No luck, she wouldn’t be able to use the built-in functions that called that place that deals with car emergencies. Pretty useless to make that a function that stops working in the case of a car emergency, but she guess that it just couldn’t be helped.

Nobody driving, especially in this rain, would be able to see into the ditch either. So nobody would stop and help her, probably. Her only option was to get out of the car and walk. She was too far from her home, and too far away from Togami’s home too, so she’d have to get to a busier road and try hitchiking. She turned to look for an umbrella in the back of her car, but in the brief time she was able to sit at that angle before the pain got too much she saw nothing. So not only would she have to walk, she’d also get fucking soaked while doing it.

She sighed and got out of the car. The mud was even worse here, she could feel it through her shoes. But she had to do this anyway, there was no other way she’d get to Togami’s house, or even back to her own house. Awful. This day had turned out just awful. She’d just go back home at this point, not even Togami was worth the amount of trouble it would be to get back home if she hitchiked to his house. As she climbed out of the ditch, she slipped, and fell face-first into the mud. She’d definitely be skipping Togami’s house at this point. There was no way he’d want anything to do with her when she was this dirty.

She managed to get back up to the road, and held her thumb out when she noticed that there were actually enough cars here to try getting a ride from. She stood there, covered in mud and soaking wet, but nobody stopped for her. She saw a really expensive car, and looked into the window. It was him. Byakuya Togami! She must have been closer to his house than she thought. She did kind of forget what the GPS said right before she crashed into a tree. She got her hopes up for nothing, however. It was definitely him, and he very definitely saw her, but he didn’t stop. Just kept driving.

But of course, that wasn’t entirely unexpected. He never really gave a damn about her, he just tolerated her. Plus, his parents liked her. That was why they were engaged, anyway. He’d probably go off and cheat on her with prettier girls all the time, she was just the good girl for Mom and Dad to see… but she couldn’t help but love him anyway. Even if he would leave her to eat shit and die on the side of the road in pouring rain. She sighed and sat down on the soaking ground, holding her knees to her chest. She was cold, she was dirty, she was in pain. She had expected today to be great, but instead, it turned out awful.

“Hey, you okay? You need a ride?” A voice broke through her funk, and she tried to look up. It hurt too much, so she stood instead.

“...No. No, I’m not okay and, a ride would be pretty good.” Once standing, she saw that the voice she’d heard belonged to a guy in a pickup truck who had bright pink hair underneath a beanie. He was grinning at her, but looked really concerned. He had the window open, so his face was getting kind of wet. He was… wearing eyeliner? Yeah, he was, and it was dripping.

“Well, hop in. I’d hate to see a pretty girl like you get pneumonia out here or something. What’s going on, anyway?” He asked her. She got in the passenger side, and he rolled up the window.

“I crashed my car into a ditch. My phone got broken, so I couldn’t call for help. Had to come up here and try to hitch a ride. Thank you.” She nodded slowly.

“Crashed your car? Well you’re in luck, cause I just so happen to be a mechanic. Come on, let’s go back to the place where I work, I’ll have somebody get a tow truck out here to get your car back then I’ll fix it up for ya. Free of charge.” He gave her a thumbs-up before he started to drive off.

“I can pay…” She spoke softly.

“I’m sure you can, but I’m not gonna let you. You’ve had to deal with enough today, clearly.”

“...Thank you.” She smiled at him.

“I can have somebody back at the shop give you a checkup, too. She’s studying to be a doctor, but she’s working part time to pay for school and bills and food and all that. She’s definitely qualified to take a look at you and see if you gotta go to the hospital. I’m sure you’ve got a hell of a lot of whiplash after a crash like that.”

“Yeah, thanks so much.” Today had been awful, but it was starting to look up again. Looking at her rescuer, she felt her heart beat a bit faster. Just a bit. Was it the adrenaline, or maybe…

Did she ever even feel like this around Togami anymore? Or was she just telling herself that because she was too afraid of being alone?


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arrival at the garage where Souda worked, he left her with that med school student he mentioned before going to call in a tow on her car.

"Uhm... Hello." The nurse-in-training greeted her, hesitantly putting out a hand to shake, "My name is Mikan Tsumiki."

"I'm T-Touko Fukawa." She responded, shaking her hand, "I got in a car accident thanks to this rain..."

"And, Souda wants me to give you a checkup?" She ventured, and Fukawa nodded, then grimaced. Nodding. Was. Not. Good. Right. Now. "You're going to want to stop nodding, if you have whiplash, which you probably do... if, that's all right."

"Y-yeah..." Fukawa responded sheepishly, then Tsumiki stepped closer to examine her. She wasn't quite certain what the other girl did, but when she was done the whiplash wasn't half as bad as it had been.

"There, that should alleviate some of the pain. I don't think you have any other injuries, so you got lucky!" Tsumiki smiled, clapping her hands together, "Just don't put any strain on your neck, rest it for a while until the pain is completely gone. How did you get in that accident anyway, if you don't, um, mind me asking?"

"Well... Well I-I, I was driving to my boyfriend's, my fiance's house and it started raining really hard and I sort of... drove my car into a ditch... The worst part is, he drove past and saw me when I was trying to hitch a ride, but didn't even stop."

"Ha!" Another voice broke into the conversation from behind a door, which promptly swung open and a person fell out. She just fell, right onto the floor. She had blonde hair back in a single ponytail, and was wearing a floor-length dress. When she stood up, she was of an average height, but still had a bit of babyface going on, "He, he drove right past you! That's hilarious! Some boyfriend he is! He probably just holds onto you because you're willing to forgive shit like that!"

"H-hey, Saionji, leave her alone..." Tsumiki muttered as Fukawa started to cry.

"No no, I don't think that him driving past was even the worst bit! The real kicker is that you had to get this girl here looking after you! You don't even get a real doctor!" The woman laughed, "Just this wannabe who's working at a damn garage to pay her bills! What sort of nurse is also a grease monkey, huh?" She then looked on in glee as Tsumiki also broke down in tears.

Souda walked into the room, only to see both girls crying their eyes out. He was about to say something, but Saionji turned her words on him next, "Hey, Kazuichi! There's a spider on your head!" He immediately pulled off his beanie in fear.

"Is it gone?" He asked frantically, and she snickered.

"No, it's not! The spider is never gone! There are spiders everywhere! They are eternal! Submit to arachnid nihilism!" She cackled as she said this, crossing her arms and watching as he too broke down.

Moments later, the remaining employee walked into the room. “Cease this blathering! Senseless bawling will repair zero vehicles!” He was a tall man with an inexplicable cowlick and an even more inexplicable black raincoat with a popped collar, which went all the way down to his ankles, “Tsumiki, you are a very talented girl. Girl I don’t know, it is impressive how well you can handle hair that long. Souda, there are no spiders.”

“Hey you can’t talk to me like that!” Souda shouted, pointing a finger at the man, “I’m your boss, Gundam! Don’t forget that!”

“I’ll stop talking to you in this way when you stop crying like a small child over nonexistent spiders.”

“I’ll stop crying over nonexistent spiders when your girlfriend stops telling me they exist!”

Gundam sighed, and turned to Saionji, “Hiyoko, shouldn’t you be at the front desk? You were hired to take phone calls and make appointments, not dispense insults. And have you forgotten what your therapist says you should be doing?”

“Making more friends, yadda yadda.” Saionji rolled her eyes, “Come on, it’s not like anyone here’s gonna want to be my friend anyway!” Despite her arguments, however, she apologized quickly before going out to the desk.

“W-what… What’s her deal anyway…?” Fukawa questioned, holding her hands together close to her chest, “She’s such a nasty girl…”

“She’s not so bad.” Gundam answered, “Her name is Hiyoko Saionji. She was actually the least suited applicant to the secretary position, but I gave her the job anyway.”

“Yeah, because she was pretty.” Souda grumbled, “Still wish you hadn’t vetoed my decision.”

“It was not because she was pretty, and you know it. It was because she was so mean, actually. I thought that I might be able to learn why, and I was correct. She’s really a very good person, but she’s guarded. She doesn’t want to be hurt, so she hurts others before they get the chance. She’s really very good with animals, and if you stopped crying long enough to show her some kindness, she’d be your friend.” Gundam crossed his arms, staring down Tsumiki and Gundam. Fukawa just sort of stood off to the side awkwardly.

“Say!” Souda broke the tension by turning to her, “Your car’s not gonna be fixed up till tomorrow, since we’re closing up pretty soon. Want me to give you a ride back to your house?”

“That’d be r-really great, thank you!” Fukawa smiled at him, and refrained from nodding this time, well aware that despite Tsumiki’s efforts, doing so would still cause her more pain than keeping her neck still.

“Remember, you have to keep strain off of your neck, Fukawa.” Tsumiki added in, an almost deviant look in her eyes. That plus the tone made both of them blush.

“J-just what are you i-implying with that!? I’m…! I’m engaged, remember?” She put her hands over her face in embarrassment. Souda was reacting in much the same way.

“Let’s just go before Gundam says something embarrassing too!” He then took off at a run to his pickup, and she followed close behind. Once in the car, he sighed, “Sorry about that. All of that, really. Sorry about Tsumiki, and Saionji, and sorry you saw me freaking out over spiders.”

“That? O-Oh that’s no big deal at a-all! I was c-crying too, after all…” She mumbled.

“You had a much better reason, though. I mean, your fiance kinda sounds like an asshole. No offense.” He shrugged as he started driving, seeing as she put her address into his GPS without him even needing to ask.

“None taken. In f-fact I agree with you.” She glanced away for a moment before looking at him again, “He doesn’t care about me. I’m j-just a girl to show to his parents, r-really. He’s just really attractive a-and I’ve liked him since high school. Ch-change is scary. I think I’d really j-just rather marry him and have him never love me than b-be alone.”

“So it’s that sort of situation, is it?” He couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, “Being alone isn’t all too bad, you know. I was kind of like you about a year ago. Trailing along after this girl I liked like a damn puppy dog, but she really couldn’t care any less about me. She humored me, sure, but she was glad when I finally realized it wouldn’t work and broke up with her. Been single since then, and it’s really no big deal! Clearly you aren’t living with him, so it won’t disrupt your life. And besides, nobody’s saying that you’ll be alone for long. I’m pretty sure Tsumiki would go out with me if I asked, it doesn’t take too long for someone new to get a crush on you.”

“W-wait, really?” Her eyes grew wide. The chances that he’d gone through something similar to her romantic situation…

“Yeah, pretty funny, huh? And you know, you’re really pretty. I bet if you really wanted to, you could find someone new right away. Pop from one relationship to a new one, maybe.”

“Maybe…” She trailed off.

“Hey, this is your house, right?” He asked as he pulled up in front of what was in fact her house, then handed her a piece of paper, “Here’s my business card, just call tomorrow and we can work out what to do to get your car back to you. If it’s nice out you could probably even walk over there, I think. Aight?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him, taking the card and slipping it into her pocket before getting out of the car, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, then she closed the car door behind her and waved to him as he drove off.

She went back inside the house and immediately undressed. She pulled her hair out of the braids and blow-dried it before putting on pajamas, so that she didn’t soak another set of clothing. After getting that all sorted out and putting some water on the stove to make hot chocolate, she pulled the business card out of the pocket of her discarded, wet clothes. Luckily, she had got the card at a point where it wouldn’t get so wet as to be ruined.

As soon as she pulled it out of the pocket, there was something off. It wasn’t cardstock, as business cards usually were, but… a receipt. From a grocery store. Quizzically, she turned it over to look at the back. A phone number was written there, and she relaxed. So the garage didn’t actually have business cards, but she’d be able to call them tomorrow.

Oddly enough, she felt she could get by okay without getting her car back, but she wasn’t so sure she’d be content with her life if she never saw Souda Kazuichi again.

The kettle on the stove squealed, and she snapped out of it. She had hot chocolate to drink and silly thoughts to stop thinking. There was Togami, she had Togami, she shouldn’t be pining after some other guy. Who cares if this guy helped her when she wasn’t even trying to hitch a ride anymore? Who cares that he didn’t expect anything from her for her help and his advice? Who cares that he was leagues nicer than her dear betrothed?

Who cares anyway?


End file.
